When a harried housewife is accidentally left behind while on vacation with her family, she decides to take a holiday of her own in Venice. She becomes charmed by the city and her newfound freedom. She decides to extend her stay, finding a job in a flower shop, renting a room from a wistful waiter, and rediscovers her love for playing the accordion. But her solo journey does not sit well with her tyrannical husband, who hires an amateur detective...

The story of a nineteenth century Italian countess who, amid the Austrian occupation of her country, puts her marriage and political principles on the line by engaging in a torrid affair with a dashing Austrian lieutenant. Gilded with fearless performances, ornate costumes and sets, and a rich classical soundtrack, Visconti's operatic melodrama is an extraordinary evocation of reckless emotions and deranged lust from one of the cinema's great sensualists....